Additional Info

Nearby Theaters

General Cinema opened this theater on June 15, 1979, the last twin to open in Northwest Indiana. It’s premiere attractions were “Butch and Sundance:The Early Days” and “Rocky 2”. It was located in a strip mall in the very southeast corner which made it hard to see from either W. Ridge Road or Cline Avenue. This strip mall was the site of the Ridge Road Drive-In which had closed two years ealier.

Unlike the other GCC twins in the area, Griffith Park’s auditoriums were longer in length and smaller in width. The theater did well since it normally played movies exclusively. In the mid-1990’s the theater began to fall on hard times due to competing multiplexes and General Cinema finally closed its doors in 1998. The giant read Cinema I-II sign on the building still sits there though the lobby is virtually empty save for the skeleton of the concession stand.

For some reason I can’t get this place out of my head. I stopped by it a year ago and took some photos. For being closed for so long the inside seemed to be in great condition. It was a great place to go see movies. Easy parking, never over-run, clean and ran movies for the longest of times. The best part about it is that after or before the movie the mall was a place to just hang. Venture store or other other joint on the south east corner (can’t remember the name) were cool places to shop. In the 90’s the mall was all but vacant but now it has “some” life in it with K-mart next door. It would be nice if someone did re-open (like a Brew and View) here. Again, great parking, easy to get too (being 3 minutes from the expressway).

Well the condition of this theater was in pretty bad shape. The amount of work that it needed would not have been worth what they wanted to charge for leasing it. I think there is a new leasing company in charge of it that I am going to try to contact.